The Sun Certified Java Programmer 6.0 (SCJP 6) Certification Exam

Introduction

The Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) exam is the entry level Java exam and is a prerequisite to a number of the other Java-related certifications. SCJP 6.0, designated CX-310-065, was released in December 2007, the latest certification exam from Sun Microsystems, Inc, is for programmers experienced using the Java programming language. SCJP 6.0 is aimed at the JDK 6.0 release of Java. It introduces new topics of Console, NavigableSet, and NavigableMap,etc,.

This article will help you understand the objectives, preparation requirements and resources available for this certification by Sun Microsystems.

SCJP 6.0 Certification Exam

Exam Info

Exam Objectives

The objectives of SCJP 6.0 are almost same as SCJP 5.0 except few changes which introduce new topics like Console (API Contents), NavigableSet, and NavigableMap (Collections/Generics) and removed the overridden methods and constructor from "OO Concepts".

Objectives - The seven categories of objectives for the exam are as follows:

For detailed information refer to the complete exam objectives for the SCJP 6.0 exam, by Sun Microsystems.

Benefits of SCJP certification

Preparing For The Exam

Preparation options

You can prepare for certification in many ways. For those into self-study, there is the typical buy-a-book approach. Be sure to consider the "used" market, too, as many people don't feel the need to keep these books after they've passed the test. Another self-directed option is the online exam simulators, free or otherwise. Here you get to try out the typical exam format in the comfort of your own home. If you're looking for someone to study with, consider participating in online study groups and forums or in-person groups from your local Java User Group (JUG).

In addition to the fact that the material in the newly added topics is vast, the questions in the exam can be rather challenging and often require you to carefully think through the problem. So, make sure that you get plenty of practice with problems involving the new features. Once you have adequate practice under your belt, you will be able to handle the questions in the exam.

Useful Resources

Books - Preparatory books are a valuable asset for any IT Certification preparation. Here are some recommended books for the exam:

Scjp Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5: Exam (310-055)
by Kathy Sierra (Author)
SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Study Guide
by Sierra and Bert Bates
SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 5 Practice Exams
by Katherine Sierra (Author), Bert Bates (Author)
SCJP Exam for J2SE 5: A Concise and Comprehensive Study Guide for The Sun Certified Java Programmer Exam
by Paul Sanghera (Author)
Fast Track to Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP) 5.0 Upgrade Exam
by Ka, Iok Tong (Author)

References

Download the JSR from here. Get a quick overview with J2SE 6.0 release notes. Read J2SE 5.0 in a nutshell Read about the new Language Features Test yourself with Tiger Quiz

Documentation on enhancments in J2SE 5.0 (also for 6.0)

Generics The For-Each Loop Autoboxing Typesafe Enums Variable Arguments Static Imports

Tutorials and Articles - There are numerous tutorials freely available on the web. The most reliable and recommended of these are by Sun. Following is a list of some highly useful tutorials and articles for the exam:

The Generics tutorial by Sun. Taming Tiger archives: Read about 5.0 features in the Taming Tiger archives at developerWorks. Taming Tiger, Part 1 By Tarak Modi, JavaWorld.com

Mock Exams - Fulfill the need to practice for the exam.

Osman Mrzljak's mock exam Marcus Green 's mock exam Mock exam

Web Sites

http://www.lanw.com/java/javacert/default.htm http://www.aniyog.com/java/certification.htm http://www.javaranch.com/mock.jsp http://www.javaranch.com/maha/_Mock_Exams/_mock_exams.html http://www.javaranch.com/mock.html http://www.certification.about.com/od/freequestions/ http://www.michael-thomas.com/tech/java/java_info.htm http://www.jchq.net/mockexams/exam2.htm http://www.jchq.net/mockexams/exam1.htm http://www.levteck.com/ http://www.akgupta.com/Java/mock_exam.htm http://www.javaprepare.com/faq.html http://www.jdiscuss.com/ http://www.java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/j.title.doc.html

Preparation Kit

Whizlabs Preparation Kit

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Tips and Tricks

Try to get a group together to study with, it makes it easier. As you progress through your study you will begin to get a ‘feeling’ for what the question is asking. Read, practice, sit practice exams and discuss with colleagues over and over again. If you buy a certification book (recommended) be prepared to read your chosen study book 3 times. In the Drag and Drop type questions, the answer gets reset if you try to review it. So, always complete and double check your answer before moving away from a Drag and Drop question. It would be helpful to solve Drag and Drop questions on a sheet of paper before actually attempting them in the test. The revised exam has more performance-based questions than knowledge-based questions requiring memorization of API details. So spend more time on hands-on practice, especially of commonly used methods, and avoid trying to memorize each and every API detail simply by reading. Be clear about the classes implementing the Collection types like List, Set, and Map. Be aware of which of these types support sorting, which allow duplicates, which give the best performance, and so on. Remember that immutable string objects are returned by the String class. StringBuilder and StringBufffer both return mutable strings; the only difference between them is that StringBuffer is thread-safe, while the other is not. When you see the usage of varargs in a method, ensure that the ellipsis is appearing as the last argument to the method. Remember that the super type of generic Collection objects is Collection<?> and not Collection <Object>. Remember that since the wildcard (?) stands for an unknown type, you cannot add to generic types using wildcards. Know the distinction between Comparable and Comparator and the methods defined by these interfaces. Ask your employer to pay for the exam. They may pay or reimburse you if you pass the exam?

 

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